Victor Oladipo leaves wood floors like they are trampolines to the extent that a missed dunk was highlight worthy.

A mid-air maneuver like that one appropriately got him into basketball. He said he fell in love with the game during the 1991 NBA Finals and that his future was cinched once he saw Michael Jordan switch the ball from one hand to another as he soared over the lane and the Lakers.

“I’ve got to play this game or I’m going to go crazy,” Oladipo recalled thinking at the time.

One problem: Oladipo was born a year after those Finals. His memory might have made a classic replay game into a live experience, but the anecdote shows how charismatic Oladipo is and how passionate about basketball he remains. His mother did tell the New York Times that Oladipo had played basketball before he was born because she had a dream about Hakeem Olajuwon, also from her homeland of Nigeria, signing a basketball for her while she was pregnant.

Oladipo’s personality could have won him most popular in this draft class a year ago, but it was not until this past season that he became one of its top prospects, too. Oladipo, once barely recruited in high school, looked to not even be draft material until this season, and now his stock has skyrocketed to the point that he is a viable option at No. 5 for the Suns, who interviewed him at the draft combine in Chicago. Even he calls the rapid rise “surreal.”

Oladipo is the best perimeter defender in the draft and recorded the second-best maximum vertical leap at the combine (his 42-inch leap was beaten by Miami’s Shane Larkin with a 44-inch jump).

“(NBA teams) like my motor, the way I’m able to defend multiple positions, the energy I bring and how I improve every year,” Oladipo said at the combine in Chicago. “And every year, I feel I can grow even more.”

Oladipo’s progression as a player could make his negatives easier to swallow. His jump shot and ballhandling need improvement, but there is no doubt about his willingness to invest the effort. He went from making 18 of 74 3-point shots (24 percent) in his first two seasons at Indiana but went 30 for 68 on 3s (44 percent) this season. His percentage on midrange jumpers doubled and he said, “I feel like a shooter.”

Oladipo famously wore out his electronic pass card to the gym at Indiana because he used it so often for midnight workout sessions on the court.

“I’m just abnormal,” Oladipo said. “To be honest with you, I’m a weird dude. I’m not going to lie to you. For instance, when I’m at the apartment in Indiana, it’s midnight and you just finished watching a playoff game, Grizzlies versus the Warriors. You’ve got to wake up at nine-thirty the next morning, but there’s just something about you that wants to get in the gym. So I just get up and go. Twenty-four-hour access. Just swipe the card, and you’re in there. It’s a beautiful thing. I just want to get better. I want to be the best basketball player I can be.”

Oladipo, 21, averaged 13.6 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.1 steals as a junior, but there are concerns about his size. He measured 6 feet 4 1/4 in shoes at the combine but makes up for some of that with a 6-9 1/4 wingspan.

“You're looking at a guy that's rapidly improved over three years,” ESPN college basketball and NBA draft analyst Fran Fraschilla said. “A ridiculous athlete, plays with high energy, high motor, low-maintenance guy, wants to be not just in the NBA, but wants to be an NBA player.”

The undersized star two-guard in the NBA is rare, although Dwyane Wade is one. Indiana coach Tom Crean recruited Wade at Marquette, too. Oladipo was unheralded when he first saw him and now he is a fan and coach favorite for his energetic play and electric personality.

The Suns tried to draft Alando Tucker and turn him into a shooting guard in 2007. Otherwise, they haven’t used first-round picks on getting a shooting guard since taking Wesley Person and Michael Finley in 1994 and 1995, respectively.

“I feel like I’m going to be a really solid player in the league, if not better,” Oladipo said. “I’m going to do whatever it takes to separate myself. I’m looking forward to the journey.”

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